DubNation Digest: Things You May Have Missed During The Warriors Hot Start

The Golden State Warriors are off to their best start in franchise history. With new head coach Steve Kerr, the Warriors have shot out of the gate at blazing speed on their way to a league best 15-2 record.

Thus far, through this young season, there have been many interesting story lines both on and off the court.

Here is a compendium of some of our favorite articles about different on and off court aspects of the Warriors so far:

Sam Alipour from ESPN on Andrew Bogut and his finances:

The Golden State Warriors’ center protects his cash like he does the paint: efficiently. College finance classes taught the Aussie the skills to monitor his $14 million salary, how to build a surplus and create an investment portfolio that includes his fledgling Australia-based agency, One Management. But not even this bargain-hunting big man can escape the costs associated with moving into a new pad.

From the looks of it, Bogut seems like the kind of guy who is smart with his money. Bogut mentioned in the interview that he does all of his own finances. He studied finance for two semesters through an Australian university so that he could manage his money when he got older. Pretty smart when you think about it, because we’ve all heard about NBA players going bankrupt from spending their paycheck too fast.

Alipour caught Bogut on a home-improvement week: over $300 on billiards equipment, a $500 deposit on a hot tub, and a six-pack of beer for $11. “A few nights a week, I like to have a beer or two and relax before bed. But only European brews. I don’t dig too much into generic American beers,” he told Alipour.

Bogut also has two Siberian huskies.

Ben Golliver from Sports Illustrated writes:

Below, you’ll find the NBA’s top 10 lineups by net rating this season. In other words, these five-man groups have outperformed their opponents by the widest margin this year. Note: minimum 150 minutes played; all stats through Nov. 30 via NBA.com/stats.

That list reveals hot lineups (Portland, Cleveland), blistering lineups (Memphis, Dallas, Sacramento) and then whatever scorching adjective you might like to apply to Golden State, whose +28.7 net rating has been completely out of this world. How far out there are the Warriors orbiting? Digging through recent lineup data, Golden State’s starters have actually enjoyed the hottest start to a season for a five-man group since at least the 2007-08 season.

The Warriors starters lead the league in multiple categories this season. The lineup of Curry, Thompson, Barnes, Green, and Bogut are tops in the NBA for assists, defensive rebounds, and both offensive and defensive efficiency ratings. Those solid numbers are a big reason the Warriors have seen so much success so far.

Kelly Carter of hauteliving.com writes about the future endeavors of Andre Iguodala in this day in the life article:

The business savvy 30-year-old is already thinking ahead to how he’ll fund the NBA and WNBA teams he aspires to buy when his playing days are over. His future plans are part of the reason that, as a free agent, he accepted less money when signing with the Oakland-based team in 2013 rather than his other prospective suitors. “I was thinking about that and all of the [investment] opportunities in this area that I can venture into to help me make the transition a little bit smoother and start the process,” the 10-year NBA veteran says. Since arriving in the Bay Area, he’s developed a “great” relationship with the venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, and has also met with Tesla Motors co-founder and CEO Elon Musk at the electric car’s plant in Fremont. “That was pretty neat; he’s a genius,” Iguodala says. He follows his stocks, which include Apple, Nike, Facebook, Netflix and Tesla, and has his home page set to the Wall Street Journal.

The post also went though Iguodala’s daily routine. This included practice, some golfing, family time, and even a little bit of homework. He also had a sleeping issue that kept him up until 3am until he corrected it recently — now he gets to be by midnight.

Iguodala is currently enrolled in a business ethics class through his alma mater, the University of Arizona. He says that he gets a lot of his homework done on the plane ride when the team is on the road.

This season, Andre is averaging 6.8 points, 2.4 assists, and 3.0 rebounds per game. Those numbers may not jump off the page, but as we all know, Iguodala doesn’t need to show up in the box score for everyone to know how important he is to this team.

DeAntae Prince of SportingNews.com writes about Curry and his “bargain” of a contract:

Despite the perception he is already a max-level talent, Curry still sees himself as striving to prove he is worth that type of price tag.
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“Throughout the life of my contract, that’s kind of what I’ve been trying to do,” Curry said. “Hopefully, I’ll be able to capitalize down the road, but I never second-guessed my decision at the time and I still haven’t because I thought it was the right one at the time. I’m healthy and playing well and my team is winning. That’s all I’m really worried about.”
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In order for that to happen, Curry must maintain his current level of play and remain healthy. With scares like Sunday’s ankle tweak becoming far less frequent, Curry appears well on his way. For now, though, he will play on as one of the best bargains in sports.

Curry’s $44 million contract seems like a bargain now, but at the time that is what he was worth. After this season, Curry will have 2 more years before he is due for another contract, but this time it will come at a stiffer price. With fellow splash brother Klay Thompson getting a max deal, and big contracts looming for Draymond Green and possibly Harrison Barnes, it will be interesting to see how the Warriors approach this and make sure that Curry will not be going anywhere.

Here is the Warriors latest  NBA power ranking according to John Schuhmann of NBA.com:

 The Warriors hold the top spot in Schuhmann’s rankings followed by the Memphis Grizzlies, San Antonio Spurs, Portland Trail Blazers, and Dallas Mavericks, respectively. The Warriors are a much improved team no doubt, but a tough stretch of the schedule is currently hanging over their head.

After another home game against Anthony Davis and the New Orleans Pelicans, the Warriors will be facing some tough Western Conference opponents in the Houston Rockets,  Mavericks, Grizzlies, and a healthy Oklahoma City Thunder team.

Monte Poole of csnbayarea.com writes that the Warriors and their fans shouldn’t get too excited with the Warriors winning ways:

This, folks, is a not a schedule but a series of charitable donations. The Warriors won’t see a less challenging schedule for the rest of the season, which is why it’s premature to alter projections and visualize basketball in June at Oracle Arena.
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There is, however, good reason to feel proud of what has been accomplished. The Warriors, after all, did not make their own schedule. They can only play it. The Pistons, who led early but never recovered once they were down double digits in the second quarter, are the most recent prey.

The Warriors win streak, now at ten games after the 98-97 win over the Orlando Magic courtesy of a Curry game-winning three, is definitely something to get excited about. They have put themselves in a great position and should be proud of the work they have done, even if it was against inferior opponents.

The good news is that they have had bad nights but have still found a way to win and that is what the good teams do. At some point this season, the Warriors will probably hit a rough patch. They will face some good teams and win, but they will also lose to some teams that have no business beating them, but that is how the NBA works and no one is going 82-0, or breaking the Chicago Bulls record of 72-10, for that matter. Every team will have their struggles, but as long as this team stays healthy, takes care of the ball, and plays intense defense, this season for the Warriors can be looked at as a successful one.

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